G C A T T A C G G C A T genes Article Comparative Analysis of Soybean Root Proteome Reveals Molecular Basis of Differential Carboxylate Efflux under Low Phosphorus Stress Krishnapriya Vengavasi 1,†, Renu Pandey 1,* ID , Gerard Abraham 2 and Ravindra Kumar Yadav 2 1 Mineral Nutrition Laboratory, Division of Plant Physiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India;
[email protected] 2 National Centre for Conservation and Utilization of Blue Green Algae, Division of Microbiology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India;
[email protected] (G.A.);
[email protected] (R.K.Y.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +91-11-2584-2815 † Present address: ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641007, India. Received: 9 October 2017; Accepted: 20 November 2017; Published: 30 November 2017 Abstract: Carboxylate efflux from roots is a crucial and differential response of soybean genotypes to low phosphorus (P) stress. Exudation of carboxylic acids including oxalate, citrate, succinate and fumarate was induced under low P stress, particularly in P-efficient soybean genotypes. Enhancement of root length, surface area and volume further improved P acquisition under low P stress. To understand the molecular basis of carboxylate efflux under low P stress, the root proteome of contrasting genotypes (P-efficient: EC-232019 and P-inefficient: EC-113396) was compared. Among a total of 325 spots, 105 (32%) were differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) between sufficient (250 µM) and low P (4 µM) levels. Abundance of 44 (14%) proteins decreased by more than two-fold under low P stress, while 61 (19%) proteins increased by more than two-fold.